The key in facilitating a usability test is to make the participant comfortable. Reassure them that they are not being judged/evaluated, the designs are. Have a quick chat at the beginning to put the person at ease and to get…
Category: My Quora answers
Movies, My Quora answers, Orson Welles
How was Orson Welles able to make Citizen Kane at such a young age?
Because he didn’t know any better. I’ve read quite a few articles about Kane, as well as numerous interviews with Orson, and my view is that he was able to make Citizen Kane the masterpiece it was (and is) because…
Family, My Quora answers
What are the most startling differences between the US and Australia?
I lived in Australia for almost two years, so here’s my list on incongruities: People drink ALL THE TIME. I often walked from the train station to the office and people were having a pint at 8 AM. Beer at lunch?…
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Good question. I would say it’s because when you are trying to sell a car you are selling a fixed thing, and the focus of the conversation tends to be promoting that thing. Don’s style is in selling a dream, a vision of what people want to have or be. He deals in emotions, not facts. Selling a car in a one-and-one situation is about promoting specifications. Selling a car to a mass audience is about selling that emotion.
Also, Don is self-centered, and probably didn’t spend the time talking to the customer to reframe his sales pitch to align to their needs. See question on Quora
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What are some design problems a young designer can work on to build he design “chops”? Here’s a couple of ideas:
Learning how to read and write. Adult literacy around the world is at an all-time high, but there are still thousands of adults who can’t read or write. Can an self-guided app help solve this problem?
Budgeting. People need to budget their finances, but when you look at the amount of credit card debt in the country you see that many of us live beyond their means. A simple practical/instructional app can help people learn how to budget.
Decluttering. People have a lot of stuff, and in many cases way too much stuff. Can an app help them inventory and then prioritize their possessions, to help them simplify their life?
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A great experience comes when what is designed aligns with the needs and desires of the users. This means that the offering “fits” the user, if not like a glove then… like a nice warm bathrobe. A great experience accommodates all the factors – shape, touch, mental models, emotional drivers, and the user’s expected behaviors and outcomes. Controls should work as anticipated, and respond quickly.
Sounds easy, right? Well, how of you get there? How do you ensure that the great experience takes place? The primary thing to do is know your user. Research, dig deep into what they need and expect and then use that understanding to inform your design. Iterate, taking the candidate solutions back to users to test them, and then refine based on the feedback received.
The process will vary, but the key are the two things noted above: Iteration and user research. You have to do both in order to ensure a great experience.
Movies, My Quora answers, Orson Welles
Which is the better movie, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane or Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo?
A question on Quora I just had to respond to and answer, as I have seen both films numerous times and I love both… When you try and answer this qestion, you need to realize that better or best are…
My Quora answers, TV, Twin Peaks
Why is the Venus de Milo in the Red Room / Black Lodge?
It has many potential meanings. Laura poses like a statue at one point in the Red Room and then disappeared. The statue can reflect her “frozen” status, where she is trapped between two worlds. The lack of arms means of…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are good ways to analyze website users? Do you need to capture data like age or educational background?
You can approach it two ways – you can get your web analytics and spend some time looking at or you can setup a survey to capture personal information. They key question you need to answer is this: What is…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
To learn UX/UI design quickly, what are the three most important skills to focus on?
Human psychology. Understanding users – what they need, want, and desire – is the crucial, seminal skill a user experience professional need. It influences everything – design, content, processes, features, you name it. Knowing WHO you are designing for helps…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
How would you structure learning user experience design?
User Experience is a great discipline to get into, especially right now. Hundreds of companies around the world have started applying UX principles in their processes and products, and many more are starting to “get” that UX, properly applied, adds…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What’s inside your UX workshop tool box?
What I try to have in my portable workshop "kit:" Sticky notes. Lots of sticky notes, all different colors and sizes. I always have more than I think we'll need… And sometimes we run out. Estimate how many you'll need,…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What makes a really good charity website?
I think there are four things that make a good charity website: A clear mission statement. What does the charity do? What is the mission of the charity? A clear statement of the charity's goals right up front tells potential…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are the parameters for user experience audit?
You can’t go wrong by starting out using the 10 Usability Heuristics for User Experience Design, as created by Jakob Nielsen: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/… They are “best practices” for interaction design, and they are (in summary): Visibility of system status Match between…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are the “open problems” in UX design?
An "open problem" is a question without a known solution, and the interesting thing about user experience design is that we don't have a lot of open problems or questions, it's that we often have TOO MANY ANSWERS. A couple…
My Quora answers, UX Articles
What are the latest trends in mobile design that a UX team should follow to build a good app?
Flat design. Apps that have skeumorphic elements are old news, the new design “style” is Flat. Not to say that skeumporhism doesn’t have it’s place – you just need to do it right. Drag down to refresh. Lots of apps…